Dallas Mavericks ace offseason moves, per NBA analyst

The Dallas Mavericks are back in the saddle with direction that could help the franchise win a championship someday.

Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley graded the team's offseason, giving them an "A-" for their efforts.

"The Mavericks' miraculous win at the draft lottery could pay dividends for the next decade-plus. Cooper Flagg was clearly the best prospect in this class, and if you buy the most optimistic scouting reports about him, he could be a certified star on both ends of the court," Buckley wrote.

"Is that enough to get Dallas an A-plus? Maybe it should be, although there wasn't a lot of thought involved. Any team that had the No. 1 pick would've used it on Flagg. That selection was cemented the second the Mavs collected their jackpot prize.

"Outside of Flagg, there wasn't a whole lot happening around the franchise. Getting Kyrie Irving to decline his $43 million player option and sign a new deal with a smaller starting salary opened up the taxpayer midlevel exception, which it used to add D'Angelo Russell, who will help steady the point guard position while Irving makes his way back from an ACL tear."